"A Read-Aloud for the Pelican Squad," oil on panel, 24" x 48"
I'm excited to show this painting in the upcoming Celebrating Art of Women by Women exhibition and sale at Haynes Gallery in Thomaston, Maine. The gallery website says:
"For the second half of the summer season, the gallery will present Celebrating Art of Women by Women, a collection of paintings, drawings and sculptures by women artists. It was inspired by Women Painting Women, an art group and website that promotes contemporary women artists[. T]he show will include a dazzling selection of the latest paintings by Ellen Cooper, Stephanie Rew, Alicia Ponzio, and many more. It's an exhibition of provocative, compelling and engaging art that covers the variety of issues that affect women today."
One of the compelling issues women face today is, what should you do when you are surrounded by large pelicans while wearing a pink sleeveless dress? You should read to them, of course.
This painting is in fact one of several that I'm doing that has to do with something called "paracosm". The Wikipedia definition of a paracosm is that of a "detailed fantasy world created inside one's mind." I'm pretty sure that a great many of you reading this had one (or more) fantasy worlds going on when you were young. I also think that most of you have lost them, and it is probably just as well, because it's hard enough to function in one reality, much less in an alternate space with its own laws and situational ethics, especially if you are supposed to be doing something else like, oh, say, drive a large truck on the highway in a blizzard or perform brain surgery during a power outage.
My own childhood fantasy worlds (I had at least 4 or 5) are too boring to relate here to you, sort of like having to listen to other people's dreams. But they often revolved around situations where I was the hero and had various superpowers, including talking to animals and having them understand, love and obey me.
Oh, and by the way, did I mention that in my fantasy worlds I was also indestructible, could foresee the future and save the planet? And, I could fly and travel back and forth in time?
Oh, you too?
I'm so honored and proud to show work in this show with so many talented and widely collected artists. The show opens August 14th, if you're in Maine, please stop by.
5 comments:
What wonderful news about this beautiful painting. And, BTW, what makes you think you DON'T have superpowers?
This painting inspires me. It is so *not* like anything else around. It's clearly from your brush, and your mind, and your imagination.
Yes, me, too. I had some pretty compelling fantasy worlds when I was a child, and I find it's absolutely necessary to go back to them in order to get to the root of who I am and what I want to paint.
Kudos to you for doing this important "root" work! I'm looking forward to more.
Thanks for the nice comments, Chris and Alex! I really appreciate them.
I'm really interested in childhood fantasy worlds, for both girls and boys, and how they weave into our adult realities and desires. I don't think of the work I'm doing right now as "fantasy art" but maybe it is.
I love this piece, the whimsy and the quality of light you have incorporated into the piece. It is also good knowing that there is a word that defines the make-believe realms of our mind.
Thanks so much for commenting, Elizabeth, I really appreciate it.
I wonder if today's over-scheduled kids have time to create their own fantasy worlds. I had a pretty unsupervised childhood, for better or worse.
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